A large part of success comes with a proper attitude. The most successful authors I know enjoy the process of learning and got into the business from the pleasure and challenge of writing. Impatience, mistrustfulness, and competitiveness with other writers can be very damaging to a career. Focus on your own content, find your own best voice, and enjoy the ride. This can be a wonderful business. --John Talbot

About the Agency:

The John Talbot Agency, Inc. was founded by former Pocket Books and Putnam Berkley Senior Editor John Talbot in 1998. With the addition of former Berkley Publishing Group Executive Editor Gail Fortune in 2005, we became The Talbot Fortune Agency, LLC. The agency represents authors in most commercial and literary genres, with narrative nonfiction, history, suspense, romance, and women's and literary fiction among our areas of emphasis. Our clients include several New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, a National Book Award finalist, a National Book Critics Circle Award nominee, and a New England Book Award winner. We have memberships in the AAR, the Authors Guild, and the RWA. Working from separate but nearby offices in Westchester County, NY, each agent runs a division of the company that reflects their personal vision.

Personal Background:

John Talbot is a literary agent and former book editor with twenty- one years of publishing experience. Prior to becoming an agent he spent seven years with Putnam Berkley (now part of Penguin USA), where he rose to the rank of Senior Editor and worked with such major bestselling authors as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, and Jack Higgins, as well as rising literary stars such as Tom Perrotta. He published national bestsellers in hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market paperback, along with five New York Times Notable Books. He began his editorial career at Simon & Schuster.

Gail Fortune is a literary agent and former book editor with eighteen years of publishing experience. She started at The Berkley Publishing Group as the assistant to the Editor-in-Chief and when she resigned in 2005 she was an Executive Editor. Her authors won six RITAs, and were nominated for Edgar and Anthony Awards. She published two Publishers Weekly Books of the Year. She was the acquiring editor for New York Times bestseller Dorothea Benton Frank. She edited many other national bestsellers in romance, mystery and narrative nonfiction.

Mission Statement:

As former book editors, John and Gail are focused on finding and cultivating high editorial quality and on long-term career management.

Years Experience:

Twenty-one for John, eighteen for Gail.

Genres & Specialties:

Narrative nonfiction, Biography, Business, Health, History, Popular Science, Romance, Sports, Suspense, Women's & Literary fiction.

Leading Clients:

John's clients:

Alice Alfonsi, John Baldwin, Bruce Bawer, Paul Bibeau, Joe Buff, Sheila Buff, Marc Cerasini, Cleo Coyle, S.E. Cupp, Charlee Ganny, Steve H. Graham, David Jacobs, Brett Joshpe, Swati Kaushal, David Kent, Alice Kimberly, Clarence Major, Tim Myers, Suzanne Phillips, Jerome Preisler, Savannah Russe, Ken Sewell, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Peter Telep.

Gail's clients:

Donna Fletcher, Gavin Mortimer, Jodi Thomas.

Best-known Projects:

John's projects:

THROUGH THE GRINDER and ON WHAT GROUNDS Japanese language rights to Random House Kodansha.

The Talbot Fortune Agency, LLC E-Mail queries@talbotfortuneagency.com